Linemen for power and telephone companies often find it necessary to repair wires strung between poles that have been broken by storms, ice formation, fallen trees, etc. Currently, the procedure for accomplishing this task is as follows.
1. If the section of wire that was originally connected between adjacent poles is in good condition except for the break, the ends of the section are cut at the tops of the poles and the wires to which the ends were connected are tied off at the top of the poles for securing the sections of wire still connected to the other sides of the poles.
2. The broken ends are spliced together on the ground, or a new section of wire of proper length is laid out if the broken section cannot be repaired.
3. An operator in a bucket pulls up one end of the spliced wire or new wire with a rope and connects or splices it to the end of the tied off wire on a first pole of the poles between the broken wire.
4. An operator in a bucket pulls the other end of the spliced wire up to the second of the two poles with a rope.
5. One end of a LUGALL.RTM. device is attached to the end of the tied off wire at the top of the second pole.
6. The other end of the LUGALL.RTM. is attached to the other end of the spliced wire that has just been pulled up from the ground to a desired height on the second pole.
7. The ends of the wires are drawn together with the LUGALL.RTM. and spliced, and the LUGALL.RTM. is then removed.
This procedure requires operations at the top of each pole and at least three splices if the broken wire is reused, so as to require considerable time. In order to reduce the time that service is out, two men and two service trucks are often used.